BURN Fitness 101:Are You a Fragile American? People generally go to the gym for one of two reasons.Most go to the gym to get smaller.Some go to the gym to get bigger.Between those two primary goals I’ve just described is 99% of the population of exercisers.Close behind changes in physical dimensions (aesthetic training), you will find general health, blood pressure, flexibility, stability, sports performance (quickness, power, and agility), and many other less common goals. In today’s article, I want to focus on one huge benefit of strength training that most people don’t even list in their “Top 5” goals… but is critical when you end up NEEDING it… then, it’s HUGE.Durability… Lisa experienced that to a degree this week, after moderately intense cosmetic surgery. Her recovery is going VERY fast, and relatively painlessly. I wrote a whole article about it a few months back called “A Tale of Two Mother-In-Laws”.And my longer term clients experience it week in and week out. Americans are getting frightfully “soft” and physically weaker every year.As our lifestyle-related physical demands decrease every year, so does our physical ability.More and more automation means fewer and fewer physically taxing tasks.As a society, we’re not just getting fatter and fatter, we’re also getting weaker and weaker… and with that we’re becoming less and less durable. Strength training WORKS to make the body not only aesthetically more appealing, replacing shrinking fat with an attractive foundation of muscle, but it makes it physically stronger. Capable of withstanding not only long-term abuse but ALSO, and more importantly, acute trauma.Not only the strength of the muscle, and the integrity of the joint is increased, but the muscle creates a protective cushioning layer against minor bumps and falls.Strength and agility training helps to keep you on your feet if you’re knocked off balance, and even if you do go down… you can bounce right back up minimally injured.This works not only for the “Mother-In-Law” in my previous article but for athletes and normal adults as well!Surgery…Even minor surgeries can set people back for months with pain, recovery, and rehab.People who are fitter, stronger, and exercise can often AVOID surgery (the best option) where others can’t!Even when the knife is the only option healthy/fit people bounce back MUCH faster, suffer MUCH less recover pain and setback, and have far fewer complications down the road.When your body is used to the consistent “constructive abuse” of training, its healing mechanisms are always tuned up and working.If your diet is on point long before surgery, your protein intake is high; you heal quickly from the procedure, and suffer MUCH less discomfort.

WHY? Strength training does not make your muscles bigger, stronger, and more durable.STRENGTH TRAINING IS INTENTIONAL DAMAGE INFLICTED ON A MUSCLE AT A CONTROLLED RATE!That’s it!That is the SOLE purpose of strength training.It is proper nutrition, adequate recovery time, and intelligent program design (controlled intensity, progressive overload, and pace) that produces the strength and muscle mass gains… which produce the durability you NEED.

Providing no challenge to your muscle for months and years on end (or only doing cardio, or constantly doing imbalanced training or minimally intense training…) results in no significant damage (or imbalanced damage) to your body’s muscles.This lack of a “challenge” results in atrophy.The muscle wastes away, because it’s not needed.This makes the body not only more likely to store fat, but also makes the body progressively weaker and weaker, and with weakness, more and more fragile.

Even after someone (like me) has reached a level of muscularity and strength that I’m completely happy with… I have to continue to train the muscle.“Damage” the muscle, week after week, so that it will remain strong, and so that I will remain durable.If I quit strength training, my muscle will atrophy and disappear.

Four years ago, I took a nasty fall on wet ceramic tile.As a result I suffered whiplash, possibly a broken vertebrae (my doctors were not sure if it was broken prior, or due to the fall), and jammed my whole lumbar spine causing inflammation to my facets, and exacerbating degenerative disk disease.When my neurologist first looked at my MRIs and X-Rays, the first question out of his mouth was: “What drugs are you on for pain?”He was expecting opioids, narcotics.In his own words, my spine was “trashed”.My reply: Over the counter NSAIDS as needed (2-6 per day, Advil…).He was astonished. His only explanation was that my muscularity, core strength, and general durability and tolerance for pain allowed me to function 90% despite a major injury.Years later… after a couple of steroidal injections and completely failed RFA treatments… I’m in LESS pain than ever, and still take between 0 and 4 NSAIDs per day.My surgeon was SURE I’d be in for back surgery within a few years.Today, I highly doubt it. My years of previous strength training, made my body durable enough that a fall and injury that would have resulted in disability and surgery… has instead resulted in minor discomfort, and continued ability. In closing… don’t forget to add to the HUGE list of benefits of regular exercise: STRENGTH TRAINING FOR MORE MUSLCE MASS… the benefit of durability... resistance to acute injury, AND long-term resistance to general breakdown and frailty due to inactivity.